1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to ladders for climbing onto a boat and in particular to a ladder that quickly attaches to a base mounted on a boat trailer and provides access to a bow of the boat.
2. Description of Related Art
Boat trailers generally have a frame that is Y-shaped at the front end having a tongue for mounting on a hitch attached to the rear of a vehicle, and a winch post mounted on a longitudinal member of the Y-shaped frame front end.
When a boat is being launched and the boat and trailer are backed into water, accessibility to the boat is restricted and usually not very easy to accomplish especially when there is no dock. Generally, boat ladders are for access to a boat when it is in the water. However, it is often necessary to climb onto the bow of the boat either before launch or after loading the boat back onto the trailer. It is common to stand on the trailer near the winch, but it is difficult to get onto the bow or nose platform from the trailer without climbing on a ladder.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,941, issued Apr. 3, 1979 to Ivan S. Haslam, discloses a boat bow ladder assembly comprising a mounting bracket and a ladder portion. The ladder portion includes a plurality of exposed rungs disposed at least during use in a substantially vertical orientation. The mounting bracket attaches to the bow of the boat by means of an existing eye used to connect the bow of the boat to a trailer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,896,946, issued Apr. 27, 1999 to Wesley E. Brackett, discloses a boarding ladder and winch mount system for a boat trailer. A front member mounts on a frame of the trailer; a top member mounts a winch for drawing a boat onto the trailer. A step subassembly mounts to a stringer member and crossbar and the rungs have an accurate shape extending approximately ninety degrees from the front member to the stringer member. It is particularly useful for climbing onto the deck of a pontoon boat when it is loaded on a trailer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,372, issued Jun. 23, 1992 to Noboru Kobayashi et al., and assigned to Yamaha et al., discloses a ladder which is stowed within a recessed area on a bow of a boat and it is moveable over the tip of the bow to extend from the boat to a landing area in order to assist in boarding or alighting a boat or other similar watercraft. It is particularly useful when a boat is beached bow first. It does not attach to a trailer and could present safety issues if used when a boat is on a trailer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,621, issued Nov. 14, 2000, to John E. Nye, discloses a foldable boarding ladder for a boat bow. This ladder is suitable for boarding the bow end of a boat which has been beached bow first, and when the ladder is not in use it can be folded to a size convenient for compact storage.